The present is already Asian -- and so is the future
Dr. Parag Khanna
Founder & CEO of AlphaGeo, Strategic Advisor, Bestselling Author, Global Traveller, TED Speaker
It is hard to over-state the importance in the timing of the RCEP trade agreement signed this weekend by 15 Asian nations. As the world experiences a continental drift into North American, European, and Asian zones, only Asia is finding its way out of the Covid-19 induced crisis. In times of deep geopolitical tension, RCEP represents a ray of multilateral optimism.
It also presents clear evidence of Asian pragmatism at work. Having learned the lessons from the 1998 and 2008 economic shocks, Asian leaders know that only by lowering barriers to each other can they collectively prosper. RCEP already covers more than one-third of the world population and GDP. Once India is fully integrated, it will be even more.
RCEP is a milestone in Asia's evolution. It is one of several major initiatives that have emerged from within Asia to set rules for Asian interactions and balance local needs with global ambitions. Its weaknesses are not defects but compromises that have sustained Asians' support for globalization, which is far higher than any other region of the world.
In The Future is Asian, I explain the momentum behind RCEP as well as the other forces driving the emergence of an Asian system that will increasingly shape the entire world.
Real Estate Intelligence Helped The First Time Home Buyers, Sellers & Investors Succeed. Social proof: Top 1% ?REALTOR on LinkedIn Singapore with 13,000+?? Happy Followers.
4 年Great post! ?? thanks #AskRealtorMani Mani Subramanian Veeramani
VC at Betatron. Investing in B2B startups headquartered in Singapore and Hong Kong.
4 年I’m fully on board with the thesis that the present and future is Asian. While it seems like China alone dominates, I see countries like Bangladesh working with Russia, Korea, Japan, and India alongside China to take on large projects from nuclear power plants to new corporate parks.
Experienced International Development Team Leader and Senior Consultant
4 年It’s important to remember that RCEP is an ASEAN conceived and led initiative, not a Chinese one.
Founder & MD at Indo Nordic Strategic Association (NPO/Think-Tank), India
4 年Without India and Middle-East countries included, basically it is an Chinese world. In very near future, export-oriented so-called Asian-Pacific countries will get the taste of Authoritarian Communist Expansionist 'Bullying'. #Indonordicassociation(dot)org